Davis spokesman Bo Delp said in a statement, “These numbers reflect that an increasing number of Texans want leaders in Austin to stop playing politics and work on the issues that reflect our priorities: improving education, creating jobs, and giving our veterans the care and support they deserve. Wendy Davis has a strong record on these issues and will continue to make them the focus of her conversations with Texans across our state.”

Patterson said by email, “The fact that ‘undecided/don’t know’ has a big lead in the LtGov race says a lot about the absence of bold leadership in Austin.”

Staples campaign manager Cody McGregor said in a statement, “The only poll that matters is on election day. If an online poll this far out from the election tells us anything, it’s that David Dewhurst is in big trouble and the race to replace him is wide open with a huge number of undecided voters. With Commissioner Staples’ strong fundraising totals, strong debate victories, strong statewide grassroots team, and strong record of conservative leadership and delivering results, I like our chances.”

The Abbott, Dewhurst and Patrick campaigns declined comment.

ORIGINAL POST:
AUSTIN — The new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll shows Attorney General Greg Abbott leading Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis by single digits in a potential head-to-head gubernatorial matchup in 2014.

It also showed Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst leading a field of GOP primary challengers with 26 percent of the vote.

The Oct. 18-27 Internet survey of 1,200 registered voters has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points. Among self-identified GOP primary voters, the margin of error is plus or minus 5.02 percentage points and among Democratic primary voters, plus or minus 6.03 percentage points.

In the race for governor, Abbott was supported by 40 percent of registered voters and Davis had 34 percent. Twenty-five percent were undecided. Before the general election, Abbott faces several GOP primary election challengers who haven’t appeared to gain much traction, although the poll showed 42 percent of GOP primary voters undecided.

In the no-holds-barred GOP primary fight for lieutenant governor, the survey found Dewhurst with 26 percent of the vote to 13 percent for Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston; 10 percent for Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson; and 5 percent for Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples. Forty-six percent were undecided

The co-directors of the poll are Daron Shaw, professor of government at UT-Austin, and Jim Henson, who heads the Texas Politics Project at UT-Austin.

Sen. Davis

Henson said in the Texas Tribune that there’s no sign in the numbers that the “underlying fundamentals” are changing in state politics after Davis’s nationally noted abortion filibuster this summer. He said that Texans are used to seeing “the Republican gubernatorial candidate running from a position of incumbency. Greg Abbott, while well-known, is not a household name. At least the race starts that way. That was evident before the rise of Wendy Davis, and it’s a stark contrast now that she has become so well-known in the wake of the filibuster. This far out, there is always an element of these results that is about name recognition.”